Baby Sitter for a Princess?
by clonewarsgirl
Summary: A young princess is a prisoner in her own home. Could a clone trooper help keep her mind at peace or will he help her escape?
1. Chapter 1

Alright, I'm a little stuck on 'This is Nuts' and I just an idea for a story. Anyway, I don't own anything from Clone Wars. We all know that they belong to Lucas Arts. Only stuff I own in this story is the planet Tempis, Celene Carter, and any other people of Tempis. Enjoy ^-^.

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It was quiet for once on the _Resolute_ and Rex was walking around aimlessly, bored out of his mind with nothing to do. They were just heading back to base for supplies, rest, and fresh troops. Rex would be more than grateful to get off the ship and he speaks for all of his brothers. They were all on edge and tired from the battles they have fought for the past couple months.

He saw his brother, Cody, walking down the hall towards him.

"Hey Cody." Rex said waving to his brother.

"Hey Rex. You bored to?" Cody asked, knowing full well he was right.

"Yeah, I can't wait to get off this blasted ship."

On the planet of Tempis It was a clear day with all out sun shine. At the center of the city stood a large white castle with a large stone wall around it. Inside princess Celene Carter was in the throne room watching her father, king James Carter, scold the clone trooper before her named Whiz. The trooper has allowed her to nearly escape the castle grounds. The trooper was in charge of looking after her and keeping her out of trouble, a lot like a baby sitter.

"Now get out of my sight and be grateful that I don't have your head!" King Carter shouted. The trooper saluted and walked out of the castle. He was more than happy to get of that castle and back to the battlefields and his brothers. But he felt sorry for the princess for having such a harsh father. "Celene! You know full well that you're not allowed to leave the castle grounds."

"I know dad. But how can I be a good leader if I don't know the people?" Celene asked. All her life she was kept in the castle grounds and away from the harsh life beyond the large wall. She has always wanted to go out into the town, but her father was over-protective and wouldn't allow it.

"Go out onto the balcony. You can see plenty of the people there."

"Forget it. You wouldn't understand no matter how hard I try." Celene stomped to her room.

"Princess Celene!" her teacher, lady Margret, scolded. "A princess does _not_ stomp or slouch. She holds her head up high and walks with grace and dignity."

"Not now lady Margret!" Celene picked up the folds of her green dress and ran out to the garden instead. Celene has pale porcelain skin, long red hair, and her eyes are deep green. She was tall and skinny. Her father was a large man with black hair and beard, always wearing extravagant clothes, and has brown eyes.

Celene slumped down the trunk of a large purple tree and just stared at the fiery orange leaves above in the tree tops. She had no idea what to do about her father, ever since her mom died from child birth he has been paranoid around her. This was the fifth time this month he has sent away a baby sitter. She didn't care what everyone else called them, they were just fancy words for baby sitter. The trooper her father had just sent away had become her friend and she actually wanted him to stay. But if she hadn't tried to escape last night he would still be here.

But that wasn't the only reason for her father sending him away. King Carter noticed the bond between them and grew scared that they might grow _too_ close. Celene is betrothed to a young duke in a neighboring county. His name is Johnson Lean; he has blond hair, tanned skin, blue eyes. A lean muscular body, and really tall around 6'5.

To many women he was beyond handsome and perfect, but if they knew him like Celene does they would think differently. Celene sees him as snobby, self absorbed pretty boy that only sees the world and life as he sees it. She doesn't like him that way at all. Why her father had her betrothed to Johnson, she had no clue.

She saw a small red bird fly out of the tree and over the wall to the outside world. _If only I could leave that easily_, she thought.

At the docking area Whiz was back on the _Resolute_ within three hours. He was relieved to be away from King Carter, but he felt sorry for any one that had the job of looking after princess Celene. He was gonna miss the young princess, she was like a little sister to him. They would talk for hours on end and she actually cared about he thought. There weren't a whole lot of people like her.

_Time to report in_, Whiz thought. He knew he might get into a bit of trouble with his superiors after this. He walked into the briefing room, there stood jedi knights Skywalker and Kenobi.

"Sirs." Whiz saluted.

"We already know what happened trooper." Anakin said trying to hide a growl.

"We just got a call from the king and he wasn't happy at all." Obi Wan said pinching the bridge of his nose. Whiz kept his mouth shut, he didn't want to get into even more trouble.

"Tell Commander Cody and Captain Rex to come here. We have a job for them."

"Yes sir." Whiz turned on his heels and left to find Rex and Cody. He released the breath that he was holding, relieved that they didn't yell at him. He found the captain and commander wandering the halls. "Sirs!" Rex and Cody turned their heads and saw Whiz running up to them.

"Whiz? What are you doing here?" Cody asked his brother. He hasn't seen Whiz for months.

"I was relieved of duty on Tempis commander." Whiz said.

"What is it trooper?" Rex asked, knowing that he might already know.

"Generals Skywalker and Kenobi want to see you in the briefing room."

"Alright, lets go Cody."

"See ya around Whiz." Cody said to his brother. The two men headed for the briefing room and saluted to their generals.

"At ease men." Anakin said. "We have a new job for you."

_I knew it_, Rex thought. Cody groaned inwardly.

"We need you two to go to Tempis for a while." Obi Wan said.

"For what sir?" Rex asked.

"The king has requested two of our best men to act as body guards for his daughter." Anakin said crossing his arms.

Cody and Rex looked at each other with questioning looks. Obi Wan brought up a holo pic of princess Celene.

"This is princess Celene Carter, age 20, and from what Whiz told us in his reports she's practically a prisoner in her own home." Obi Wan said.

"You two are to go to the palace and be her body guards until she is married to her betrothed in a few months. You'll be leaving in two hours. Dismissed."

Rex and Cody saluted and left the room to pack.

"This is just great, we're baby sitters for a princess." Cody growled.

"Orders are orders Cody." Rex said.

"Who says we gotta like it? I mean the girl is practically 20 years old!"

"Her father is overly protective and she's not too thrilled of being treated like a kid." Whiz said coming up behind them.

"What can you tell us about the princess Whiz?" Cody asked.

"Well, the princess isn't really so bad. She's really nice, but she can never really speak to her father the king because he never lets her get a word in or actually listens to her. And don't be surprised if she starts asking you questions when you three are alone. She's never been past the palace walls in her life, curtosy of her father. You shouldn't have too much trouble, unless she tries to escape again."

"Escape?" Rex asked.

"Yes sir, she is always wondering what it's like beyond the palace and tries to escape every now and then."

"What about her fiance?" Cody asked.

"He's a stuck up jerk that thinks of himself, and I'm not sorry for saying that. The princess thinks it to."

"You two must have been pretty close." Rex mused.

"She's like a sister to me sir. Take good care of her." With that Whiz walked away from them. Rex and Cody continued on their way to their rooms. The two hours felt very short to the men and soon enough, they were on a transport to the planet Tempis.

Review please and be honest with them. If I get enough reviews for asking me to update, then I'll keep going. Thanks for reading :).


	2. Chapter 2

I own nothing from Clone Wars.

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Rex and Cody were looking out the windows of their transport. Below them they could see the city and there on top of a hill is the castle of king Carter. It looked a lot like the castles in the old fairy tale stories they heard when they were only hatchlings. This all brought a story to Rex's mind. He remembers a story of a knight dashing off to a secluded castle where a princess was held captive by a wizard. The wizard set a dragon just outside the castle walls and guards in the court yard. The knight fought his way through them and defeated the wizard. He took the princess away from the castle and lived happily ever after with her.

Rex shook his head. _Why did I even like that story?_, Rex thought. The transport landed outside the palace wall and left when Cody and Rex stepped off the transport. A guard stepped forward to the clone troopers.

"State your business." the guard demanded.

"Commander Cody and captain Rex of GAR reporting for duty." Cody said. From behind his helmet, Rex rolled his eyes. _Just like Cody_, Rex thought.

"The new body guards for the princess?"

"Correct."

"Let me see your passes and i.d." Rex and Cody gave them to him to look at. "Everything looks in order." The guard gave them back their i.d.s and passes. "When we get inside, please give your weapons to the guards. Your weapons will be sent to your room."

Rex and Cody gave their weapons to the guard inside, but Rex had a little difficulty because his pistols have become a part of him. It's like when he's out of his armor he feels naked.

"Follow me." A young servant girl said walking towards the castle. Inside the castle, Rex and Cody took in their surroundings. The floors are made of polished marble, the walls painted with artistic scenery, jade columns supporting the castle along the hall, there are a few portraits of past royal relatives hanging on the wall. In other words, everything looks fancy and expensive.

_Yep a lot like a castle from a story book_, Rex thought. He watches Cody look around as they walk. Cody has never seen a place like this, unlike his brother, he didn't pay attention to the old stories. They come up to a pair of large heavy doors. The servant girl knocks on the door and they open.

Inside is a throne right in the middle of the large room. _Must be the throne room_, Rex thought. On the throne is a large man in fancy clothes and a gold crown set on top of his head.

"Your highness." the servant says bowing to the king. "These are the men from the republic here to replace the last body guard for your daughter and jedi knight Anakin Skywalker would like to speak with you." A holo transmitter hovers into the room and a holo projection of Anakin appears.

"Greetings king Carter." Anakin says.

"Jedi." King Carter says, he's still pissed about the near escape of his daughter.

"This is commander Cody and captain Rex. They are the best troopers we have, they will serve you well and keep an eye on your daughter with no casualties."

"I'll be the judge of that. If these two fail me I'll send your little flesh droids back in pieces and you can forget about my alliance with republic!"

"Father!" the princess exclaims. She hates it when her father calls the very men fighting for them in the war that name with a passion.

"Silence Celene!"

As the king and Anakin spoke to one another, Rex's attention finally set on princess Celene. He hadn't notice her because she was so quiet and stood so still he almost thought she was a statue. _Oh fierfiek_, Rex thought. Underneath his helmet, his jaw dropped open when he set his eyes on her. She looks a lot better in person than on a holo mec. He notices her flushed cheeks and a few small leaves caught in the folds of her dress. _Probably had to hurry here from outside,_ Rex thought.

"Rex. Cody." Anakins voice brought Rex back planet side. "I want you to send reports to the ship at the end of every week. Is that clear?"

"Yes sir." Rex and Cody say in unison. Anakin fades as the transmission ends.

"One of my guards will give you a tour of the palace momentarily. As your General has told you, you are to watch over my daughter and keep her safe. _Either_ of you make a wrong move or mistake you'll be sent back to your army." King Carter says. "But I won't promise you'll be sent back _alive_." Cody gulps down a sudden swell of nervous saliva. "Now, off with you two. The servant girl will show you to your room." The two troopers salute the king then follow the servant girl out of the room. "Lady Margret."

"Yes sire?" Lady Margret asks appearing before the king.

"Take Celene to her room and prepare her for the arrival of her fiance."

"Yes your highness."

Celene groans inwardly at the mention of Johnson coming over. All he does is talk and boast about how great and powerful he is. All bark and no bite is what Whiz calls it, he even dubbed the young duke Sir Snooty. All though he never repeats it when the duke or king is around.

When Lady Margret left to fetch a nurse maid Celene kicks off her shoes and jumps onto her bed with a soft flump. Compared to the rest of the palace, her room is a bit plain. Her bed is a plain and simple day bed with a black and gold nightstand next to it. She looks down at her soft white carpet then to her mirror head dresser then to her portable wardrobe filled with fancy dresses and shoes.

Celene groans at having to put on dress after dress just for Sir Snooty to actually like what he sees. But she smiles at feeling the soft cotton of the simple clothes she bought from a traveler for some comfort from the itchy clothing that is her wardrobe she keeps under her pillow.

"Princess." Celene looks up and sees her friend Laura. Laura is a kindly old woman that is her nurse maid. Celene is able to talk freely around her and Laura is able to do the same.

"Hi Laura. Don't worry we're alone." Celene says sitting up.

"Getting another visit from Sir Snooty?" The name caught on with the rest of the palace staff, most of them have the same view of the young duke as the princess.

"Yup."

"That man won't do any good for this kingdom." Laura searches through the wardrobe for something suitable. She tries not to make Celene go through the torture of trying on several dresses in one day. "I saw your new body guards on my way up. They seem like decent men."

"If they're anything like Whiz, then it shouldn't be a problem for us to get along."

"You miss him don't you?" Laura brings out a white and gold simple princess style dress.

"Yeah, I do. I miss playing that game with him he taught me. What was it?"

"Would you rather."

"That's it. Thanks."

"You're welcome dear. This one looks suitable. What do you think?"

Laura holds up the dress for Celene to view.

"I can't believe it, I'm actually falling in love with a dress. Is this one new? I don't remember it."

"Yes, just got here this morning."

"Who bought it?"

"No one. I made it."

"Oh thank you Laura!" Celene smiles and engulfs Laura into a bear hug.

"Well you have to have _something_ comfortable to wear besides all those other dresses."

"All too true."

Celene walks into the bathroom to wash up before she has to go through another make over session.

Review please.


	3. Chapter 3

After their tour, Rex and Cody returned to the room they now share. It's a very simple room with two beds and dressers. But they had to admit it's a lot nicer than the military barracks back on the bases. This room actually has a window with a view to look at.

They heard a knock at the door. "Come in." Rex says.

The guard that showed them around came in. "Hey boys."

"Hey Will. Everything going ok?" Cody asks.

"Yeah. Just taking it easy for a few minutes and you two are needed in the throne room."

"Why?" Rex asks.

"Sir Snooty is coming over and you're the princesses body guards."

"Sir who?"

"The duke. Johnson Lean, aka the princesses fiance."

"Oh."

"Why do you call him Sir Snooty?" Cody asks.

"You'll find out when you meet him." Will said. "You better get going before the king pops a vein."

"Take it he doesn't like to be kept waiting."

"Hates it. Last person that made him wait was banished. But he actually liked that person. People that are on his bad side well...lets just say they're in a better place."

Rex and Cody hurriedly put on their helmets and ran to the throne room. _Why do castles have to have such long hallways?_, Cody thought as he ran down the endless hallways. They finally made it to the throne room doors and stop there to catch their breath.

"I think we just did a mile run dash in less than three minutes." Cody said panting.

"Save your bad jokes we got work to do." Rex said straightening his helmet. He knocks on the door and they open before them. They march into the room and salute the king. "Reporting for duty sir."

"Take my daughter to the garden, Johnson will meet you there." King Carter said. Celene comes forward and Rex is at a loss for words, even breath. Her dress flows around her with each step. The golden circlet shines when the light hits it and a gold ribbon woven into her side braid almost makes her look like an angel. _Snap out of it trooper_, Rex thought but it didn't get through to his head entirely.

"Sir?" the princess asks Rex. Rex snaps out of it quick. "Are you alright?"

"Uh...yes ma'am." Rex says standing at attention.

"Very well. Shall we?"

Rex follows Celene with Cody beside him. Underneath Cody's helmet a smirk is plastered to his face. He could tell Rex is falling for the princess from day one. He just hopes he won't do anything stupid.

Princess Celene sits at a bench underneath a tree, but instead of sitting down gracefully she plops down onto the bench with a sigh.

"Oh cruel heels, please be merciful to my feet today." Celene begs.

"Tender feet?" Cody smirks.

"Not really, these heels have no cushion in them what so ever." Cody tries to hold in a burst of laughter. "You try walking in these things for an entire day!" She holds out one of the shoes, they're white six inch heels.

"How do you walk in those?" Rex asks amazed.

"Your guess is as good as mine." Celene takes off the other shoe and lets the grass comfort her feet. "But my dream shoe is one that won't give me blisters after an hour. I don't suppose either of you will loan me blaster and let me find a hiding place from Sir Snooty would you?"

"Nope."

"Sorry princess but we would like to keep our heads attached and remain breathing." Cody says.

"Eh, it was worth a shot." Celene said. She sees the familiar posh cruiser and gussied up man stepping out of it.

"Ah princess Celene, you look lovely today. But silk would have been a better material for that dress and a lady of your stature shouldn't be slouching and your shoes." Johnson says.

"We aren't even married yet and you're already trying to change my ways. Do you know how much those things hurt?"

"A little pain is a small price to pay when it comes to fashion."

"A little? Digging a needle into my eyes couldn't compare to the pain of those shoes!"

"Please darling, settle down. A woman as fragile as you shouldn't be over exerting herself. Now me on the other hand, I just fought off an army of those silly separatist droids."

As Johnson continued to ramble on about his greatest exploits, he didn't notice the obvious rage beginning to engrave itself onto Celene's face. _I can't take it anymore!_, Celene thought, _If I have to live the rest of my life with this overly pampered snob then I'll break off the betrothal myself!_ But she somehow bared the long minutes of Johnson's stories.

"Sire, we should go inside the palace. It's starting to get dark." Cody said interrupting the duke.

"And who, exactly, are you?" Johnson held his nose up in the air.

"Commander Cody and that's captain Rex. We're princess Celene's new body guards."

"You finally got rid of that other one? It's about time, I didn't like him." Johnson scoffs. "And no _clone_ tells me what to do."

_That is it!_, Celene thought. She stands up her fists clenched tightly.

"I think you should leave Johnson." Celene said, trying so hard not to kick him where the sun never shines then round housing him to Hoth.

"I beg your pardon?"

"You heard me! Leave before I do something I might possibly regret!"

"My dear, you're worked up all over nothing. They are only clones, flesh droids, that the republic pays for and can be replaced."

Celene snaps right then. "These men are the ones fighting against those droids! Unlike us that are sitting in our comfy homes and eating to our hearts content, while they are out there dealing with the war!" Celene's face turns red with the building rage. She literally throws Johnson back into his cruiser. "Come back when you can control that big mouth of yours and get a backbone if you have one at all!"

Celene stomps back to the castle and in dire need to hit something and scream out her rage and disgust. She hears the cruiser drive off and her body guards hurrying after her.

"You know your father won't be too thrilled about this." Cody says.

"I don't care at this moment. I need to go down to the dungeons."

"Why?"

"To let out my anger before I do something incredibly stupid."

_Yeah, I can imagine her and Rex as a couple_, Cody thought. _I think I'm in love_, Rex thought as they escort her to the dungeon of her choice. After putting some stuff into the cell that she can break, they lock the door and let her lash out. Rex and Cody stood at the door hearing her scream and the sound of stuff breaking. They even heard her say line after line of curse words they didn't think she would know, even one or two they never heard of. Nearly two hours have passed when it grew eerily quiet in the cell, they jump when Celene knocks on the door.

"Ok guys, you can let me out now." Celene says now back to her calm self. Rex unlocks the door to let Celene out. Rex and Cody took peek inside the cell and the place is wrecked. Everything is smashed into little pieces and there were even some new cracks and dents in the steel walls.

"Remind me to never get on her bad side." Cody says.

"Trust me, that won't happen to you. Unless you're Sir Snooty."

Rex looks into the room again. "I actually feel sorry for that boy."

They escort Celene to her room before going back to their room for some sleep. Laura sat on a chair waiting for Celene to return, ready for anything. She doesn't even jump when Celene slams the door behind her.

"I can't stand him!" Celene shouts.

"The duke go too far again?" Laura asks as she gets Celene's pajamas.

"Big time." Celene removes her dress and jewelry. "Why of all people do I have to marry _him_?"

"You should ask your father that."

"I have, but he just changes the subject or dismisses me to my room." Laura hands Celene her pajamas and puts them on.

"Don't worry, one day things will look up." Celene looks out the window and glares down at the wall that separates her and freedom.

"Why doesn't dad understand that I hate being kept from the world? Is my only choice to die and wonder around as a ghost to see outside that cursed wall?"

"Celene!" Another thing good about Laura is she's not afraid to say what has to be said. "Never think that way! Suicide will get you no where but put more pain on others around you. Believe me, when things look like they can't get any worse they can only get better. Besides, if you're gone who will I take care of and chat with for hours and hours?"

Celene smirks and climbs into bed. "I might stay in my room for a week just to be safe from dad."

"You know you can't keep him out. He has guards that can burst down your door easily. Your best chance is to get it over with in the morning."

"When you're right, you're right Laura."

"Good night Princess."

"Night Laura."

As the door closes, so do Celene's eye lids as she drifts off to a dreamless sleep.

There you go peoples. Please review. :)


	4. Chapter 4

Celene is up and escorted down to breakfast in the dining hall by Rex and Cody. Rex and Cody stand at the door behind Celene as she ate.

Rex put a hand over his stomach as it growls for food, the staff food isn't much. Just some kind of mush that tastes worse than the military base food, he couldn't get himself to swallow the stuff down. It was the same for Cody and he tries to will his stomach quiet, but Celene hears the stomach duo.

"Are you men hungry?" Celene asks.

"No ma'am. We're fine." Rex says but his stomach betrays him.

"Your stomach says other wise. Please take a seat, both of you." Rex and Cody took a seat on either side of Celene. "Roger, could you bring in two more plates?"

"Yes your highness." Roger says bowing then leaving to the kitchen to get the plates.

"Haven't you two eaten this morning?"

"Tried." Rex said.

"We couldn't get ourselves to eat it." Cody says.

"Really? It's _that_ bad?" Celene asks.

"It made the base food taste like gourmet."

"Wow."

Roger returns with two plates of hot food and places them in front of Rex and Cody. They didn't need any convincing or prodding, they dug into their plates. Celene knew better than to bother a hungry person while they eat. The dining hall is in total silence as they ate. _Haven't seen dad yet maybe he hasn't heard about last night_, Celene thought, _I might even be in the clear for a while_.

"**CELENE!**" King Carter roars.

"I'm dead." Celene whimpers as she tries to sneak back to her room.

"Hold it right there young lady!" King Carter is standing at the doorway and he looks _beyond_ furious. "Leave us." Celene gulps hearing the deadly voice of her father and everyone gave her looks of pity as they left the room. "Celene Carter you are in serious trouble."

"I can't help it if the duke is a loud mouth snob." Celene says.

"But you can control your anger and keep your mouth shut!"

"I don't want to marry him dad."

"Too bad, this is being done to unite the two kingdoms."

"For what reason? We have no enemies and we're on good terms with the other kingdoms and even the republic."

"It's for your own good Celene."

"How is it for my own good?"

"You're too much like your mother! Maybe Johnson can tame you and turn you into a sensible woman."

"And what's sensible to you dad? A woman that just sits there looking pretty, and twiddle her thumbs thinking there is absolutely nothing going on? You know full well I can't do that!"

The king slaps Celene across her face. "You will marry Johnson, no questions asked."

"And if I keep saying no?"

"You know very well that I have many ways of making you cooperate." Celene glares up at her father. "Now go to your room and don't come out until I send for you."

Celene walks up to her room seemingly unfazed by the episode that just happened; but deep inside she's shaking and afraid.

Rex heard everything and what Whiz told him of the king is true, he never really listens to his daughter. He felt sorry for her and being trapped in this castle, he doesn't blame her for wanting to escape. _But why does she stay?_, Rex thought. It's something he would have to ask her when they're alone.

Celene closes her bedroom door and finds Laura getting the dirty laundry. When Laura saw the bright red hand mark on Celene's cheek she forgets the laundry and hugs Celene tight.

"I'm so sorry that you of all people have to live through this." Laura says stroking Celene's hair. Celene wanted to cry, but she wouldn't let the tears fall. She thinks that if she cries then she won't be a strong leader when she takes the throne. But she buries herself in Laura's warm hug hoping it would wash the pain and sadness away. Her father slapped her all over some betrothal she never wanted and doesn't even know the real reason why. The servant bell rang for Laura but she ignores it and puts Celene before anything else at this moment.

"I know I have to stay and become queen of the kingdom. But I don't know how much longer I can stand this." Celene says to no one in particular.

"A hardship in life has its reasons for being in it. Sometimes it's a good thing and other times, not so much." Laura says still hugging Celene. She didn't want to let go of her god child, especially now. Celene pulls away hearing her dad shouting for Laura.

"You better see what he wants. He's mad enough already and I don't want you getting fired."

"You'll be alright?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

Laura leaves hesitantly to see to the king. Celene sits at a chair pulling out an old scrap book and looks through the pages of the past, she stops at the picture of her mom. With her mom gone people some times wonder if Celene is adopted, the only thing that says she's the kings daughter is they both have a temper. She's just like her mother and looks exactly like her to. Her mom was free spirited and never could sit still when something is putting her home and family in danger.

Celene sighs and rubs the thin gold bracelet band around her wrist. _How did you put up with him mom?_, Celene thought. She hears a knock at her door.

"Come in." Celene says. Rex walks in. "Oh, hello captain."

"Good morning princess. Are you alright?" Rex asks concerned.

"I'll be fine. My father can be so hard headed some times."

Rex sees the picture in the scrap book. "Your mother?"

"Yeah." Celene sighs. "Some times I wish she were here."

"Princess Celene, why do you stay here? From what I see, you don't seem to like being here."

Celene smirks. "You got that right, but I can't."

"Why?"

"I'm needed here. One day I'll have to take my fathers place of the throne and rule over my country. But what I really want is to know what it's like to fend for myself for once and not have everything handed to me on a platter."

Rex snickers. "People would say they would trade lives with royalty any day."

"Well if you ever find some one that does want my life, they can have it."

"You have to be careful with that kind of thing princess, things can go wrong easily."

Celene sighs got up and puts the scrap book on the table next to her. "A girl can dream."

Rex removes his helmet and hugs Celene from behind. "I can dream to." He buries his face in the crook of her neck. Celene gasps, it feels like electricity is shooting through her entire body. Eventually she relaxes in Rex's arms and gives into the sweet embrace.

"I hate to break up this tender moment, but I have a previous engagement." Rex and Celene look up and see a blue skinned man with bright red eyes sitting at the window. A stranger to Celene, a well known enemy to Rex. Rex pushes Celene behind him.

"What do you want Bane?" Rex snarls.

"The princess of course. I'm being payed handsomely for her capture."

Rex's scowl deepens. "Over my dead body."

"That can be arranged." Bane pulls out a pistol, ready to fire. Rex pulls Celene down to floor with him, dodging the shot.

"Run Celene!"

Before Celene could run to the door, Bane flips across the room and catches her. To Banes surprise she threw him across the room smashing her dresser. Whiz taught her a little self defense while he was still her bodyguard. Sadly Bane is a lot more skilled and stronger than her. He pins her to the floor and shoves a cloth over her nose and mouth. Celene continues to struggle but she feels herself slip to unconsciousness.

When Celene went limp Bane slings her over his shoulder and leaps to the window.

"Sorry but I have to leave now." Bane snickers.

"No!" Rex lunges to them, but Bane throws a knock out gas pellet into the room and jumps into a waiting cruiser. Then sped off into the city. Leaving Rex coughing and sputtering trying to stay awake, but he soon fell unconscious to the floor. But Bane hasn't realized that Celene's gold bracelet fell off and onto the floor at the foot of the window.

"I am so sorry about my daughter Johnson. I'm sure Celene was simply just not in the mood for visitors." King Carter said. He's been trying to keep Johnson from breaking off the betrothal.

"It looked more like I wasn't welcome and I don't take kindly of being kicked out." Johnson said.

"I assure you Johnson that Celene is back to her well behaved self and would love it if you could come back over so she can apologize to you in person."

"Hmmm I see she has finally come to her senses. But I never knew she has a temper."

"You know what they say about red heads, they're the ones with the spirit and temper."

"Yes. Well, I'll be there in an hour. I look forward to seeing your lovely daughter again." The transmission ends.

"Celene better behave herself. Bring Celene before me."

A guard leaves to get the princess, but comes back seeing the smashed dresser, an unconscious Rex, and no princess in sight. "Sire! The princess is gone!" The guard shouts.

"What?"

"One of her guards is out cold and I found this near the window." the guard shows the king the bracelet he found.

"Find her!" the guard hurries away to gather some of the other guards. "And bring those two clones in here!"

Uh-oh, Rex and Cody are in for it now. What will the king do to them and what is Bane up to? Find out in the next chapter. Reviews please :)


	5. Chapter 5

I don't own Clone Wars. By the way, I changed the last chapter some because I uploaded it before I actually finished it. Just to let you know, enjoy.

* * *

Celene wakes up with a slight head ache. She looks around and sees that she's in a dingy hotel room tied to a chair. She begins to struggle against the ropes.

"Keep struggling and I'll have to make them tighter." The blue skinned man she remembers as Bane says entering the room.

"Who are you and where am I?" Celene demands.

"The name's Cad Bane and where you are. You won't be finding out anytime soon."

"Alright Bane, why have you taken me?"

"My employer has paid me to abduct you and deliver you to him alive."

"And who, may I ask, is your employer?"

"Nice try." _Damn_, Celene thought. "I'm not that stupid princess." He could see curiosity in Celene's eyes. "Do you know _why_ your father wants you to marry duke Lean?" Celene shakes her head no. "His kingdom owns a highly profitable produce that's popular through out the galaxy. If your kingdoms unite, then your kingdom will be getting a cut in it." Celene gapes at what Cad said about the betrothal. "Saver it princess. Your dear daddy has been setting you up with the duke for profit."

_That can't be true_, Celene thought, _but then again_. Celene isn't sure to believe it or not; things couldn't be that bad in the kingdom that her father would stoop to that level. But she barely knows anything about the kingdom, for all she knows things could be worse than she thinks. _Well I'll find out on my way home_, Celene thought. She doesn't know how she'll escape, but she'll take the opportunity when it comes.

Back at the castle

Rex and Cody stand before king Carter.

"Do either of you know where my daughter is?" king Carter asks amusedly.

"Sire, I told you time and time again. Bane has taken her." Rex says, now revived from the knock out gas.

"And what were you doing in my daughters room?"

"Doing my job sir, guarding her and she seemed troubled about something."

"And what did she tell you?"

"Sworn to secrecy by order of your daughter sir."

"So you let a bounty hunter capture my daughter, and where were you commander? Slacking off and being useless?"

Rex knew the king was trying to pin something on them to have an excuse to punish them, and it didn't look good for them. "I was writing up my report sir. It's due for the generals in the morning."

"Sire! Before you make any quick judgments, let us help look for your daughter. Give us two weeks, if we don't report finding her at the end of that time then we will take our punishment and leave Tempis for good."

King Carter strokes his coarse beard in thought. "Very well captain, I'll allow you two weeks. But mark my words, if I hear that you have been working with this bounty hunter I'll make you wish cloning has never been created." Cody gulps and Rex he's on the verge of insanity worrying about his princess. The image of Celene throwing Bane across the room is still fresh in his mind, with her it was poetry in motion. _If Bane harms a single hair on her I'll make him pay_, Rex thought his face hardening.

Later with Celene

Bane has gagged Celene to keep her quiet while he sleeps off the whiskey he drank at a bar earlier. During that time Celene has been working with the knot and trying to think of a way out that place. So far, she almost has the knot undone; but she's not sure to take the risk of moving around because the floor creaks in places.

Celene smiles through the gag as her bindings finally came lose, she pulls off the gag and takes a better look of the room; trying her best not to move too much. The room is a little dark but she can see the peeling wallpaper and old bed, table, dresser, lamp, and stained floor. The curtains of the window have been drawn; but now she had to find some way out before Bane wakes up.

Celene looks to Banes sleeping form as she hears him grumble then shift on the bed before falling back to sleep. Celene silently sighs with relief, then continues to think. _If I step on the right places_, Celene thought, _then maybe I can get out of here. If the door doesn't betray me_.

Celene steadily takes off her heels, picking up the thick folds of her dress, she slowly makes her way to the door. _So far so good_, she thought, _just three more feet girl and then you are out of here_. She slowly grabs the door knob and carefully twists it, turning to Bane every time it made a single sound. She finally opens the door and steps out carefully along with closing the door soundlessly. She looks around, hoping to find something to brace the door. She looks to her sash and pulls it off, she wraps it a couple times around the door knob then to a hang nail on the wall. _It won't hold for long_, Celene thought, _but it'll slow him down_. Then she hurries down the hall.

Out in the kingdom

Rex is with a small squad of soldiers, searching the kingdom for Celene. It's growing dark and they haven't found a trace of her or Bane. _Where are you Celene?_, Rex thought. He prays that they would find a sign or clue to her soon. One of the soldiers places a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't worry. We'll find her." Rex remembers him as Mike. A close friend of Celene's in the palace. Mike has noticed how Rex has grown close to the princess and how he looks at her, it didn't take much for Mike to figure out that Rex is practically in love with Celene.

"I hope so." Rex whispers.

Back to Celene

She has made it out of what looked like a run down hotel, now she's hiding in the alley near by. _He'll be able to spot me a mile away in these clothes_, Celene thought. She begins searching for clothes and spots some laundry drying on a clothes line. She smiles and takes a green shirt, wool brown socks and pants, and a hooded jacket. She changes in a secluded area behind some bushes, she takes her dress and shoes back to the house where she found the clothes and sets them at the door step. She takes out her diamond studded hair pin from her hair and sets it among the clothes. If things are bad, then she wants to leave what she can that might help.

Celene messes up her hair then pulls the hood up as she hurries away into an unknown place to her.

Back at the hotel

Bane curses and pounds on the door. He woke up not long ago to find his captive gone.

"That girl is smarter than she looks." Bane grumbles. He growls frustrated now and kicks down the door. He hurries off to the streets to find Celene. "In that get up she's wearing, she couldn't have gone far and it'll be easy to spot her."

Somewhere in town

Celene is rubbing her feet after treading over rocky paths. _Maybe I should have searched for some shoes to_, Celene thought kicking herself in the butt for not thinking of it earlier.

"Oi!" Celene turns around and sees a black haired man. "What are you doing here?"

Celene gulps down her nerves. "Trying to find my way home. Where am I?"

"You're in Jumper Town."

"What planet?"

"Tempis of course." The man looks at Celene carefully and sees that she's truelly lost. "What's your name?"

Celene bit her lip. She may have lived in a palace all her life, but she's not stupid. "Clara Piper."

"Well Clara I'm Lew. Now where do you live?"

"Where is the palace of King Carter?"

"Why would you want to go there?"

"I live near the palace."

"That explains the loss of shoes."

"What?"

"Come on, I'll explain on the way." They walk up the road. "Things aren't easy with the bandits about."

"Bandits?"

Lew gives her a wtf look. "Have you been living under a rock?"

"You can say that." Celene laughs nervously.

"The bandits own this kingdom, not even the king can stop them."

"Has anyone at all tried to stop them?"

"Many have but they were all found dead in the village square."

"When did this happen?"

"About ten years ago." Lew notices a trail of red behind them. "You're bleeding."

Celene looks down and notices some soaking into her sock and leaving a little trail of blood. "I'm sorry. It must have gotten cut while I have been walking."

"Obviously, here sit down and relax. I have some bandages." Celene sits down and allows Lew to bandage her foot. "It'll be a long walk to your part of town. So we better stop at my place and get you some shoes."

In the streets

Bane is getting more frustrated by the moment, he hasn't seen hide nor hair of Celene. He has figured out that she must have changed clothes when he saw a young girl carrying a fancy dress into her home. But his droid picked up a small DNA trail of blood that matches hers. _Gotchya girlie_, Bane thought sneering as he follows the trail down the rocky road.

Reviews please.


	6. Chapter 6

I don't own anything from Clone Wars.

* * *

Celene and Lew stop at a small cottage along the road. There are shoes everywhere in the little house.

"Where did you get all these?" Celene asks staring at the piles of shoes littering the floor.

"I made them. I'm a shoe maker." Lew said looking through a bin of shoes. "So what size are you?"

"Um...seven, I think."

Lew gives her a friendly smirk, then brings out a tape measure. "Lets find out for sure." He measures her foot. "Yep, you're a seven." He goes back to the bin and brings back these brown boot like shoes. "Try these on."

Celene puts them on and takes a few try out steps. "They feel pretty good. Way better than any kind of shoes I have worn in my life."

"Think you'll make it to town in them?"

_If you only knew how many times I have trekked through a castle in pinch toe heels in one day_, Celene thought. "Yeah, I should be able to."

There's a knock at the door. As Lew goes to open the door, Celene hides.

"Can I help you?"

"I'm looking for this girl." Celene's eyes widen when she recognizes Banes voice.

"The princess? No, I haven't seen her. If she has been seen, then the whole kingdom would know about it." She hears Bane grunt and the door close as his heavy footsteps stomp down onto the porch then down the rocky path. "Why are you hiding?"

Celene cries out. "Please don't do that."

"Sorry, but seriously, why were you hiding?"

She bit her lip. "H-he well...he took me from my home."

"You're saying that guy kidnapped you?"

"Yeah."

Lew's eyes widen in realization of who Clara really is. "It's a good thing I did find you. We'll wait a few minutes before we start heading to town again."

While searching the streets

Rex is the first one to wake up that morning, it's been two days since the search for Celene began. They found some links but they all lead to a dead end. Rex is getting frustrated and he feels so helpless when Celene was captured and hates himself for letting his guard down.

"We have searched this entire area. There's no sign of her and no one knows anything." A palace guard says.

"Alright, we're splitting up into groups again. First group, head downtown. The rest of you, come with me. We're going to the abandoned part of town." Captain of the guard said as they head out.

Near the abandoned part of town

Lew and Celene have been trekking down the rocky path for two days now and Celene is starting to feel the hunger take a toll on her. Lew didn't have any food or enough money to buy any in town so Celene has to coupe with the hunger until she gets home.

"Stay close princess, bandits some times pass through here." Lew whispers to Celene. She nods her head and they continue down the road silently and soon come to an abandoned village.

"What happened here?" Celene asks.

"The bandits drew everyone out of this area for part of their hide out."

"You mean, we're actually _in_ the bandits hide out?"

"We're close to the area rumored that is the hide out, but this is more of a common ambush point. So keep quiet and keep moving." They continue down the deserted village when Lew stops.

"What's wrong?"

"Hide."

Lew hides in a building and Celene hides behind a crumbling statue. She soon hears foot steps coming her way.

"Find anything yet?" She hears some one shout.

"No, not yet. I'm gonna check around the bend here!" another voice rang out. Celene steals a peek from behind the statue and sees a group of palace guards. Among them is Rex. She smiles and rushes out of her hiding place to the guards.

She lets out a startled scream when an arrow hits the ground at her feet. Bandits come out of no where and surrounds them. They are forced to walk into the woods, blind folded, to the bandits hide out. She hasn't made herself known who she is yet, she doesn't want to take the chance with the bandits.

They enter a camp and the prisoners are tied securely to trees. When they were all tied up, the bandits took off their blind folds.

"Psst. Mikey." Celene whispers to Mikey next to her.

"How do you know me?" Mikey asks.

"It's me, princess Celene."

"Princess. What are you doing here? How did you escape from the bounty hunter?"

"Later, right now we have to escape and then I need to give dad a piece of my mind."

"Hey! No talking!" A bandit slaps Celene across the face to shut her up.

"We only found some palace guards, a clone, and a girl." A bandit says to another sitting at a table. _That must be their leader_, Celene thought.

"See if they have any valuables and we can use the girl as a maid." The man said. A bandit signals the one guarding their prisoners to bring Celene to him. As he unties her Celene quickly wraps the rope around his neck. All the bandits tense when they saw their friend in danger.

"Let us go and leave unharmed, and I'll let him go!" Celene shouts. The bandits look to their leader. He glares daggers at Celene before nodding his head, another bandit unties the men. As they make their way out Celene holds back a little to make sure everyone gets out safely. When her friends are out of the deserted town, Celene releases her prisoner and runs for it to catch up to the others. _I hope Lew is ok_, Celene thought.

Celene sees the group in the distance waiting for her, she runs faster in hopes to glomp Rex. But she felt some one lift her from the ground and roughly sets her on a tree branch.

"Finally found ya princess." Bane smirks jabbing his pistol into her side. Celene winces at the little pang of pain. "Now be a good little girl and keep quiet and I won't shoot you."

To Rex's group

They ran down the dirt path to get a good distance between them and the bandit hide out. They finally stop to catch their breath and wait for their rescuer.

"I...give th...that girl props...for guts." One of the guards said in between breaths.

"Well, you might be able to thank her soon because that was the princess." Mikey says smirking.

"**WHAT?**" The others say in unison.

Rex grabs Mikey by his collar. "Why didn't you say anything?" he shouts.

"If those bandits knew who she really was, they wouldn't hesitate to hold her captive or maybe even worse!" Mikey shouts back. "Do you really want to risk her life on that?"

Rex releases his grip on Mikey and walks down the path a ways to see if he can catch a glimpse of Celene. After a few minutes he starts pacing back and forth, only stopping to look towards the abandoned village for Celene. _What if those bandits figured out who she is and took her captive?_, Rex thought growing worried, _Or worse Bane got her again_. He looks up hearing a branch snap, he sees Celene and Bane holding her at gun point.

"Bane!" Rex growls. "If you have harmed her in anyway I'll..."

"Aww how touching, the clone fell for the princess. But the question is, did the princess fall for the clone?" Bane taunts Rex below him. He glides the point of his gun up Celene's body and caresses her neck with it. "It's a shame you can never have her." Rex's hands move to his pistols. Bane cocks his gun at Celene. "Don't even think about it clone, one move and the princess gets a blast to the throat." Rex pulls his hands away slowly from his guns. Bane presses a bottun on his wrist guard and his ship pulls up above the tree. "Would you like to have one last look of your precious princess clone?" Bane yanks the hood down and Rex can see Celene's begging eyes for help. "So long clone." Banes jet boots carry him into the waiting ship carrying Celene with him.

"Rex!" Celene shouts just as the hatch closes. Rex watches in agony as Bane makes his get away with Celene once again.

Review please. Hopefully the next chapter will come out soon.


	7. Chapter 7

"I can't believe I let him take her again." Rex groans miserably.

"It's ok Rex." Cody says trying to calm his brother. Mikey called the other team not long ago and hurried to them to help out with the search. "Just tell me which way they went and we can go after them."

Rex looks up at his brother and sighs. "Forty degrees north of here."

"Will. Where does that lead?"

"The swamps. It'll be hard to get around in there." Will says. "Bandits territory as well."

"I can get you safe passage through." They turn to the young man standing before them.

"Who are you?" Captain of the guard commands.

"I'm Lew, a friend of the princess." Lew says.

"How do we know we can trust you?" Mikey asks, his voice full of suspicion.

"I don't know how to prove it, you'll just have to if you want any help."

The men look at each other, not sure about Lew.

"What do we have to lose." Rex says.

Lew leads them back towards the bandit hide out.

"Are you sure about this Rex?" Cody whispers.

"No. But we need help with this." Rex whispers back.

"Wait here. I'll be back soon, if I'm not killed first." Lew says before going down the path. Shortly they hear faint yelling, it's about fifteen minutes later that Lew returns smiling.

"Well?"

"The leader will help us, some of his best men are coming along so we won't be bothered by the other bandits."

"That's good news." Will says. "How did you pull it off?"

"Well, umm...the leader and I have an understanding lets put it that way." Three men walk up to the group. "You're the men that are showing us the way through the swamps?"

"Yes, I'm Larry. These are my brothers Jeff and Otto." Larry says. These are rough and burly looking men, but they have similarities. They all have brown hair and tan skin, but their eyes are different colors. Larries is blue, Jeff's are green, and Otto's are golden brown. "Hope you boys packed light; it'll be hard trekking through the swamps to find your princess."

On Banes ship

Celene glares daggers at Bane from her little cell as he polishes his gun, Bane just snickers.

"You know, that was very smart of you to switch clothing. You're smarter than I thought you would be princess, but in the end I have caught you again. But now we have to hide out here until my employer calls to bring you in." Bane says. "In the mean time, get used to small spaces and no tricks. Nothing goes on in this ship without my knowing."

_I can see why. This ship is so small that he can most likely see me from his own room if he wanted to_, Celene thought. Bane leaves and when the door closes behind him Celene begins to work on her bindings, which are making her wrists bleed because they're so tight.

Celene was able to pull her arms from under her legs so she can try to bite through the bindings, but she stops not long after when her wrists start to scream in pain.

She closes her eyes thinking that it would do no good if she's tired during her next escape. She'll need all the strength she can get. As she drifts off to sleep, her mind wonders to Rex. She smiles faintly in her sleep, reliving that short blissful moment they had back at the castle.

In the swamps

The three bandits have been able to keep the other bandits away as they search the swamps for Banes ship. Rex searches every area he passes thoroughly, knowing that Bane could have cloaked or even camouflaged his ship.

Time skip (Sorry I'm lazy)

They have been searching the swamps for eight days now and Rex is growing more worried, he hasn't slept for the past couple of days and it's taking a toll on him.

"Rex, you need to sleep." Cody said shoving his brother into a tent.

"I can't sleep, not now." Rex says trying to convince Cody that he can continue the search with them.

"Rex!" Rex looks at Cody shocked. He has never raised his voice to a brother intentionally. "I know you have feelings for the princess, but you can't help her if you're in this sad shape." Cody sits on the floor of the tent crossing his arms over his chest. "And I'm not going anywhere until you get some sleep! The others can carry on the search for now without us."

Rex growls at his stubborn brother, but he knows he's right. So he lays down and closes his eyes to get some sleep.

At Banes ship

Celene hears Bane talking and silently scoots closer to the cell door to hear what's going on.

"How long do I have to wait out here?" Bane growls.

"Not much longer. I'm sending some one to you and they'll take the princess from there." A weequain voice says.

"And my money?"

"He'll have it with him and will hand it to you for the princess."

"Good. When is he coming?"

"He should be there by sunset."

"Alright, as long as I get my money." Their conversation stops at that moment, signaling that the conversation has ended. She hears Bane walking towards the door and moves back to her spot of the cell. Bane walks in with a small plate of food and a cup of water. "Here." He sets the plate and cup on the floor then leaves the room without another word.

Celene stares at the bit of bread and cup of water, her mind began to go paranoid. _What if it's drugged or poisoned? No, he needs me alive to get his money. It's possible it could be drugged to keep me quiet until I'm delivered to his employer_, Celene thought. She doesn't touch the food or water, settling on that she can make it until she's safely away to get some food. Her eyes sparkle as a plan rose into her mind. _Maybe it's best that they do think I'm out_, Celene thought as she pours the water down the sewage vent and slips the bread down it bit by bit.

Back at camp

By the time Rex wakes up it's nearing sunset and they haven't found anything yet. He hears a whistle coming from one of the bandits, it's Larry. The others gather around to see what's up. Larry points to a clearing and there's a cloaked man, obviously weequay because the hood is down, walking through the swamp to a denser part of it.

"What's a weequay doing all the way out here?" Mikey asks.

"I don't know, but maybe he's going to Bane. Unless there's something beyond this swamp worth going to." Cody says.

"There's nothing but wilderness past the swamp." Will says.

"Hmmm, Rex take half the men with you and follow him. The rest will stay here with me to continue searching this area. Call me when you're heading back or found something."

Rex nods and the men split up once again.

Banes ship, again

Bane is standing outside searching the dense swamp for this person that's to deliver his money. He sees no one and goes back into the ship.

"Todo!" Bane shouts to his little droid. The droid hobbles over to his master on his stubby legs.

"Yes master?" Todo asks.

"Go check on the princess, make sure she's not trying to pull anything."

Celene hears the familiar sound of the little droid coming and begins to play possum when the door opens. Todo enters the room to get a closer look at the princess, then he leaves the room and back to his master.

"She's asleep."

"Good, the drugs have taken affect. We won't be hearing a peep out of her for a while." Bane takes another look outside. "It's almost sunset, hopefully we'll be out of here soon." Bane sits on his chair and tilts his hat over his face and reclining his feet on the console. "Wake me up when he arrives."

In the swamp not too far away from Bane

Rex and his group have been following the weequay for a while now, he can tell that he's holding onto something. _Probably Banes pay check_, Rex thought. A plan forms into his head.

The cloaked weequay stops for rest at a tree. Rex motions the others over and for one to watch their suspect.

"What is it captain?" one of the guards ask.

"I have a plan and it'll get us the princess back." Rex whispers.

"Lets hear it."

"First we need to send someone ahead the same direction as this man is going and see if Bane is that way."

"Charlie is our best scout."

"Alright, Charlie if you found Bane then report in and wait for orders. If our friend here changes direction, we'll call you to let you know."

Charlie nods and scouts ahead.

"What now?" Mikey asks.

"We wait and keep following this guy until we're sure he's the one we're after."

At Banes ship

Celene is thinking of some way out, she can't keep this possum act up forever. She hears the cell door open and a familiar sound. _Banes droid_, Celene thought. She keeps still as she hears the droid come closer to her.

"Such a shame I have to keep drugging her. She seems like a delightful person." She hears the droid say. _I knew it!_, Celene thought she hears a light tapping sound. "But if I don't, master Bane will have me as a scrap heap."

When Celene felt a tiny claw like hand touch her arm she grabs the droid.

"Sorry little guy." Celene whispers.

"Oh oh! Mas-" The droid starts to say before Celene switches him off. She lays him on the floor and grabs the needle of drugs. _Might come in handy in case I run into Bane_, Celene thought.

Celene walks out of the cell slowly and quietly makes her way to the main hatch. She smiles seeing it open. _This is too easy_, Celene thought as she steps onto the ramp.

"Oh no you don't!" Bane shouts and Celene takes off towards the woods. "Get back here!" She can hear Banes foot steps and kicks her feet into high gear. She only had one more fast stride to enter the dense woods, she smiles her hopes of getting away rising. But they are squashed when Bane caught her by the arm and throws her back towards the ship.

Celene jumps to her feet and tries to get past him but he catches her. Slinging her over his shoulder and grabbing the needle.

"Put me down!" Celene shouts beating on his back.

"No chance girly." He uses the needle and stabs it into her leg, letting the drug run into her veins. Celene cries out then goes limp, fast asleep as Bane carries her back to the ship. Bane not realizing that a palace guard is hiding among the tree branches watching everything.

Review please.


	8. Chapter 8

Rex hears his com link ring and answers it.

"This is captain Rex, go ahead." Rex says.

"Sir this is Charlie, I found the princess and she almost got away but the bounty hunter still has her." Charlie says.

"Stay there. We should be there soon hopefully."

"Yes sir." The connection broke and Rex looks to the others a hopeful smile hidden underneath his helmet.

"This is definitely our man."

"So what now?" A guard asks. Rex motions everyone to come close and whispers the plan to them.

30 minutes later

The cloaked figure is still traveling through the swamp towards Banes ship and reaches it within the next hour. Todo sees the stranger and rushes to wake Bane as the stranger walks inside the ship.

"Master." Todo says. Bane grumbles in his sleep. "A man is here with a package for you."

Bane wakes up and walks to the stranger. "You here for the prisoner?" The hooded man nods. "You got my money?" The stranger opens a box filled to the brim with credits. Bane smiles at the sight. "Good. Todo stay here while I get the princess."

"Yes master."

Bane soon returns dragging Celene into the room. The stranger reaches for Celene. "Nu-uh." Bane jerks Celene away from him. "The credits first." The stranger hands the box to Bane and Bane hands Celene to him, making the trade. "Tell your boss it was nice doing business with him." The stranger just nods as he walks out of the ship carrying Celene with him.

The man hears Banes ship take off, when he could no longer hear it he pulls off the hood of his cloak and looks down at Celene. He holds her closer to his body and plants an innocent kiss on her lips.

"I finally have you back." Rex says smiling down at her.

3 hours later

Celene is in her room still asleep at the palace. The search party has returned only half an hour ago with their prisoner and Lew. Rex hasn't left Celene's side since they got her back from Bane and watches her as Laura dabs Celene's forehead with a damp hand towel.

"You know." Laura says. "If you have strong feelings for her you need to do something quick before the wedding next week." Rex looks at Laura wondering how she knew. "This old woman has seen men in love before young man." Celene begins to stir as she wakes up. "I'll leave you two alone." Laura leaves the room and Rex pulls up a chair near the bed.

He watches as Celene's emerald eyes slowly open and fix on him.

"Rex?" Celene asks. Rex puts the damp cloth on her forehead and slips his hand into her hair while removing his helmet with the other.

"It's ok, you're safe now." Rex says.

"What happened and where's Bane?"

"I was able to get you back by disguising myself as the person that was supposed to deliver Bane his money. And Bane is being tracked and hunted down at this very moment, turns out that you were supposed to be delivered to Hondo and have you used for a very high ransom. He didn't hurt you did he?"

"No, the worst thing he did was drug me and tie the rope around my wrists too tight."

Rex sighs in relief. "At least you're alright." There's an akward silence in the room. "Celene I have something to tell you." Celene waits for him to go on. "I-" He's cut off as King Carter barges in.

"Leave us captian Rex. I need to speak with my daughter." king Carter says, Rex leaves the room. "You put a lot grief and trouble on me young lady."

"It's always about you isn't it dad." Celene growls.

"What are you talking about?"

"The real reason you want me to marry Johnson. You just want more money in your purse, while the people in our kingdom are in need, they can live off of at least half the money we have! And another thing, I will _never _marry Johnson."

King Carter glares down at Celene. "You are confind to your room until the wedding, you have no choice in this." King Carter leaves the room without another word. _Since when do I have a choice in anything these days?_, Celene thought as she lies there in bed.

We all have a good idea what Rex wants to say to Celene, anyways review please.


	9. Chapter 9

Ok people, this story is coming to a close pretty soon. Read the bottom memo, it's from my sis.

It has been three days now being cooped up in her room and Celene is beyond bored. There's a knock at the door and she practically jumps up to answer the door.

She smiles at the familiar boy. "Lew! Come in, come in." Lew walks in. "How is business going back home?"

"It's going pretty well, booming actually since people found out that the princess has gotten a pair of shoes there."

"Wow, so how have you been?"

"Fine and you're lonely aren't you?"

"I've been stuck in this room for three days straight. What do you think?"

"Well, I hope you're in good enough condition to discuss something with my father."

"Oh, where is he?"

"Hold on a second."

"Okay."

Lew goes to the window and whistles down to the ground where a man stands waiting in the bushes. Lew throws down a rope and the man climbs up to the room.

"Princess Celene." The bandit leader says bowing his head. Celene's jaw drops open.

"This is your dad Lew?" Lew nods. Celene takes a good look at the two and can see the relation. They both have the same hair, eyes, and face. "It's a pleasure to meet you Mister..."

"Micheal Kinko and the feeling is mutual princess, I have something to discuss with you."

"Very well. What about?" Celene keeps her guard up in case of a trap.

"My son says that you're very reliable and actually want what's best for the people, I want the same. But I took matters into my own hands after an incident that happened many years ago. You see princess, your father stole our land."

Celene gawks at this. "What?"

"Before you accuse me of lying, let me explain." Celene nods for him to continue. "Remember that large grassy plain on the outskirts of the kingdom? With the vacation palace?"

"Yes."

"Before you or Lew were born, that land was once sacred burial ground for my clan, the Kinko clan. We were happy with our life until your father found it and tricked us into handing it over to him."

Celene mauls over that in thought. "But that doesn't explain the killing and stealing."

"I take what I need, because the rest of my clan stays with me at the camp. They're in need of food, shelter, and medicine. Those people that are displayed in the town square, are people that were involved in taking our home. Lew didn't want the life I lead and left the camp to find a better way to get our land back. Along with hope to have a normal life."

Celene nods making sense of everything he told her. "What about the women and children that were displayed there?"

"That was not my doing. I swear by my honor that was not our doing."

Celene thinks it over to decide whether to trust him or not. _He's related to Lew_, she thought, _so there must be some good in him_. She nods saying she trusts his word.

"I made a deal with my father. He says in return for helping me, that he would talk to you to make a treaty." Lew says biting his lip.

"A treaty?"

"Yes." Micheal says. "To create peace between us and give back our land."

"Very well." Celene gets some paper and pens out to draft out the treaty. Lew sat down, volunteering to write it. The discussion of the treaty began, it took nearly all day to come to a compromise between the royal family and the Kinko clan but as the moon began to rise in the horizon Lew is busy finishing the final draft of the treaty. He puts the pen down and sighs.

"It's done." Lew says handing the treaty to Celene to read. When Celene and Micheal finished reading the treaty thoroughly, they approve of it. Michael signs the treaty and Celene signs it as well with her family seal to make it official. Not even her father can break this with Lew as a witness to the signing of the treaty. Celene and Micheal shake hands, agreeing for construction to take down the vacation palace to begin after Celene's coronation.

"Thank you your highness." Micheal bows to Celene then he rolls up the document. "You have no idea how much this will mean to my family."

"I'm glad that I could help. If you need anything, let me know and I'll do what I can." Celene says.

"I'll keep that in mind. I hope you have a good life with your future husband. Good night." Micheal climbs down the rope, through the yard, and over the wall to the kingdom.

"Your father is an interesting person Lew."

"Yes he is. I'm going back to my room Celene for some sleep." Lew says getting up from his seat.

"Of course. Good night Lew."

"Good night Princess."

Lew leaves the room and Celene crawls into her bed and falls asleep.

* * *

Hi, this is CWG's sister, just call me Turtle. Why? Cause I like turtles. Anyway, I'm bored out of my mind and CWG says I can post here if I wanted. So I'm taking up clone wars lemon requests! I don't know _a whole _lot about clone wars so my wonderful sissy is going to help me with that. ^-^ Just message us the info below and I'll message you to let you know that your story is published.

Name:

Age:

Gender:

Looks:

Crush:

Past:

Also, if you don't want your user name mentioned then just tell us and we'll think of a different title for your story. Thanks for reading and review my sissy's story pleeeaaaasse.


	10. Chapter 10

A week has gone by and Celene is still in her room staring at her reflection in the mirror as Laura puts finishing touches on the wedding dress. She smooths down the cream colored puffy skirt, and cutting off loose strings from the tight fitting sleeves and waist line. While fixing the lace she has placed at the deep sweetheart neckline.

"Today's the day princess." Laura says as she places the tiara veil on top of Celene's head.

"Yeah." Celene sighs and looks out the window. She sees her fiance climb out of his escort cruiser and walk into the palace all decked out in a white silk tuxedo. Her eyes hollow from all emotion, knowing the future ahead of her with Johnson will be a dull and unhappy one. She would rather have Rex as her future husband, her feelings for him have grown tremendously. Her mind wonders to him and a small smile appears on her face.

"You're thinking of captain Rex, aren't you?"

"Laura, I don't know what to do. I know I'm needed here to lead these people, but I don't know if I can stand being with Johnson for the rest of my life."

Laura wraps Celene in a hug and pats her back as light sobs slip out of Celene. "There there Celene, if you do love Rex then just tell him. If he feels the same way, then something will happen to bring you two together." A knock is heard at the door and Laura answers it. "Hello captain what can I do for you?"

"I'd like to speak with the princess for a moment." Celene's heart leaps for joy as she recognizes Rex's voice.

"Of course, come in." Rex walks inside the room. "I'll be out here if you need anything." Laura walks out and closes the door behind her.

Rex's breath is caught in his throat when he sees Celene all decked out in her wedding dress.

"What can I do for you captain?" Celene asks. _Pull yourself together soldier!_, Rex's discipline orders.

"I'll be leaving soon princess and I.." The words are caught in his throat, he couldn't bring himself to say it those three he has been meaning to say. But logic of how it won't work out crashes down on him like a ship coming out of the atmosphere in a burning heap.

They turn to the door as it opens. "Sorry Rex, but the transport will be leaving in five minutes for the _Resolute_." Cody says. "Princess, it was nice knowing you and I hope you will lead your kingdom wisely."

"Thank you commander, take care and _try _to stay out of trouble."

"I have no idea what you're talking about." Cody smirks.

"Oh really. Then who was that other trooper in orange armor dumping mud into Johnson's escort cruiser three days ago?"

Rex holds in a chuckle as Cody's eyes shift from side to side.

"You saw nothing and heard nothing." Cody whispers and sneaks out of the room.

"That Cody sure is something else." Celene chuckles.

"He sure is and he's right. I have to go before the transport leaves without me." Rex turns to leave.

"Captain." Rex looks back at her. "What were you going to say?"

"Oh umm." Rex scrapes his mind for something to say. "That it has been a pleasure serving you your highness."

Celene laughs. "And it has been quite an experience knowing you captain, but I have enjoyed every minute of it."

Rex smirks underneath his helmet and salutes her. "I wish you a happy life princess." Then he leaves to meet up with Cody. Celene sighs and stands at the window, she can hear the crowd outside the palace gates awaiting for the happy royal newly weds.

"Celene." Celene turns to her father standing at the door. "It's time." Celene walks out of the room to the grand hall for the ceremony with her father.

In the court yard

Lew is outside and scratching his neck, not used to the itchy silk fabric. He notices Rex walking by to a transport.

"Captain Rex!" Lew shouts to him and walks over. "Are you leaving?"

"Not yet, still have a couple minutes before take off." Rex says.

"How is Celene?"

"She's...she's fine."

Lew looks at him strangely, detecting the slight crack in his voice. "If you love her, then go after her. Don't let that duke take her away."

"No. She's needed here and I'm needed back in the army, it would never work out."

"But is it worth loosing her and knowing that she's with another man?" Rex looks back to the palace as music plays to the starting of the ceremony. "You need to choose Rex. Either go back to the army and live out life trying to forget about her _or_ go back in there and try to make things work between you two."

"Rex! Time to go!" Cody shouts to Rex from the transport. Rex doesn't know what to do, but he knows that Lew is right. Rex had to choose, either decision will change his life for good.

In the grand hall

Celene feels her emotions shut down as she walks up the aisle to Johnson waiting at the alter. Johnson is smiling at his bride, but Celene just has a hollow stare averted of all emotion. She looks neither sad nor happy the entire time. As she stands beside Johnson at the alter, she sees Laura standing to the side with the rest of the staff.

Laura gives Celene a pitying look, Celene just looks down at the bouquet of white roses in her hands. Just wanting to forget everything in the world and float away from it all. Only numbly hearing the priest recite the marriage speech.

"Do you, Johnson Lean, take Celene Carter to be your lawfully wedded wife?" the priest asks.

"I do." Johnson says.

"And do you, Celene Carter, take Johnson Lean to be your lawfully wedded husband?"

Celene looks to her father, begging for him to stop the wedding. But king Carter just glares at her. She looks to Lew standing with the best men, he gives her a 'I'm sorry' look.

"I...do." Celene whispers trying to hold back the regret and tears threatening to spill out.

"If anyone objects to the marriage of these two, speak now or forever hold your piece."

There is a silent pause, Celene praying for some one to save her from this marriage.

"I object." Celene snaps her head up to the person that spoke. It's Laura! She walks up to the alter and gently pulls her away from the shocked duke. "I'm sorry your highness, but Celene does not love you."

"Laura!" King Carter shouts outraged.

"Say what you want sire, but I'm not going to just stand by and watch Celene forced into a marriage!" Laura then guides Celene out of the grand hall and into the garden to breathe.

"Laura, why?" Celene asks, knowing that she might not see her again when her father gets a hold of her.

"Celene, you're like a daughter to me. I can't stand seeing you so unhappy and knowing it for the rest of your life."

"You know this will only postpone it, unless Johnson breaks off the engagement."

"Yes I know, but it gives a certain captain enough time to say what he needs to say to you." Laura looks behind Celene. Celene follows her gaze and is taken back to see Rex standing there.

"Rex, I thought you would be gone by now."

"I had them go ahead without me, when they get there some one is bound to come get me. Laura could you keep watch for us?" Rex asks. Laura nods and goes to the gate to make sure no one disturbs them. "Celene, I have something very important to tell you." Rex wraps his arms around Celene's waist to pull her closer to him. "I love you Celene Carter."

Celene smiles as happy tears spill out of her eyes. She pulls Rex down for a long passionate kiss. Rex kisses back immediately, it all felt so right and he never wants to leave her side. Rex finally breaks the kiss for much needed air. Celene nuzzles closer to him, sighing in content.

"I love you to Rex." Celene says.

"Excuse me." Rex and Celene look to Johnson standing at the gate in front of Laura. Rex holds Celene tightly, showing the duke that he's not willing to give her up. "Relax captain, I just want to let you know that I have broken off the marriage. Your father is not happy about it, but I brought the priest here to have you two married before your father finds you. It's hard to believe that the king didn't notice the way you two look at each other, it's pretty obvious."

"Thank you." Rex says as the priest walks in. "How 'bout it Celene? Wanna get married?"

Celene smiles up at Rex. "It would an honor Rex."

The priest smiles at the couple before speaking.

"Captain Rex, do you take Celene Carter as your wife?" The priest asks.

"I do."

"Celene Carter, do you take captain Rex as your husband?"

"I do." Celene says.

"Any objections?" Laura and Johnson shake their heads no. "Then I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may kiss the bride." Celene wraps her arms around Rex's neck and pulls him in for another kiss. Rex holds her tightly against him.

The next day, the crowning carnation is held. Rex and Celene have worked things out with king Carter and he finally accepts the marriage.

Rex still serves the grand army of the republic, while he's gone Celene stays on Tempis to look after the kingdom. When ever Rex is on leave, he would return to Tempis to his wife and help with the kingdom. The Kinko clan has their land back and three years later Rex and Celene have a baby boy they have named Leon. Through all of this I suppose that you can say everyone lives happily ever after.

The End

Ok, happily ever after is kind of corny, I admit that. But review what you think of the story and thanks for reading. By the way, Turtle is working on the requests that have been asked for she's just lazy. Don't worry I'll kick the laziness out of her some how.


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